[Peace-discuss] Fw: Daniel Pipes to talk this Wednesday at Foellinger - "That was then, this is now" department
David Green
davegreen84 at yahoo.com
Tue Oct 12 09:01:14 CDT 2010
The event is on the Hillel calendar, and also has a Facebook page, on which it
says this:
"Does the "War on Terror" still exist? Dr. Daniel Pipes, Middle East scholar,
author, and lecturer, will address this question, and shed light on a tumultuous
struggle which extends from distant deserts to academic halls, from the sheep
farm to the metropolis. You won't want to miss this amazing opportunity to hear
Dr. Pipes' message, and ask him your questions directly!
Dr. Pipes studies, writes, and lectures nationwide on the ...conflict between
radical Islam and the West. He knows Arabic, and has his doctorate in medieval
Islamic history; his studies have led him to conclude that "It's a mistake to
blame Islam, a religion 14 centuries old, for the evil that should be ascribed
to militant Islam, a totalitarian ideology less than a century old. Militant
Islam is the problem, but moderate Islam is the solution." He has taught world
history at the University of Chicago, history at Harvard, and policy strategy at
the Naval War College, in addition to directing the Foreign Policy Research
Institute serving at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Today he directs the thinktank
he founded, the Middle East Forum, and oversees Campus Watch, a project that
critiques academic literature published by North American Middle East
departments. His personal website is at www.DanielPipes.org.
This event is cosponsored by Stand With Us, the David Project, the Jewish
Community Relations Council, the Hillel Foundation at the University of
Illinois, the Chabad Jewish Center at the University of Illinois &
Champaign-Urbana, the American-Israeli Student Coalition, Great News Radio
(WGNN/WGNJ), the Orange and Blue Observer, and the Illini Conservative Union."
Certainly, speakers and organizations like this are promoting hate and
Islamophobia. Hillel should be taken to task for this, let's make that clear.
Nevertheless, I'm not at all sure what response is merited to what will most
likely--in this era--be a poorly attended event.
DG
________________________
I wrote this in 2003:
The December 3rd visit of the wretched Daniel Pipes to the U of I is sponsored
by IlliniPac, a student group sprouted from the Israel Lobby to convey Zionist
propaganda. Pipes’ message of anti-Islamic racism and rationalized hatred
provokes the following observations:
First, Pipes right to speak should be protected from disruption or
interruption. This would be unlike the treatment of Palestinian Hanan Ashrawi,
whose invitation and visit to Colorado College last September were met with
furor and disruption by Zionist activists. Pipes, brought in to counter
Ashrawi’s message, called her appearance “a grievous error,” accusing her of
being “on the side of America’s enemies.”
Second, Pipes’ McCarthyite “campus watch” website smears scholars in
Middle Eastern Studies programs, identifying over 150 as “apologists for suicide
bombings and militant Islam.” Since the “dossiers” of Pipes’ targets were posted
to this website, most have been victims of “spoofing,” with identities stolen
and thousands of e-mail messages sent in their names. Related to this campaign
of intimidation is a frightening bill--HR 3077--recently passed by the House of
Representatives, that punishes academics who do not support U.S. foreign policy,
and demands that university departments produce graduates who will serve
state/military interests.
Third, Richard Hofstadter’s classic description of the “paranoid
style” should be recalled, as it applies perfectly to Pipes: “The paranoid
spokesman sees the fate of conspiracy in apocalyptic terms—he traffics in the
birth and death of whole worlds, whole systems of human values. He is always
manning the barricades of civilization.”
Fourth, Pipes slanderously accuses American Muslims of pervasive
disloyalty: “At huge conventions closed to the press and public . . . nearly
every Muslim organization in the U.S. spews forth a blatant and vicious
anti-Semitism, a barrage of bias, calumny, and conspiracy-mongering of a sort
that has otherwise all but disappeared from American discourse.” Except,
ironically, from Pipes’ discourse—as he offers no evidence to support his claim.
For good racist measure, Pipes has written that the D.C. sniper “fits into a
well-established tradition of American blacks who convert to Islam turning
against their country.”
Finally, Pipes’ website is maintained by an Israeli settler who
denies the existence of the Palestinian people. Pipes’ contempt is well
documented: “The Palestinians are a miserable people . . . and they deserve to
be.” Gamla, an extremist Israeli settler group that advocates a detailed plan
for the expulsion of Palestinians from both the occupied territories and Israel,
regularly features Pipes’ writing on its website.
Along with many others who espouse racism and hatred, Pipes is also
a crybaby who likes nothing more than to claim he is being victimized by those
who challenge him. A calm, thoughtful, and practical response to his visit will
give neither him nor his followers this opportunity.
David Green
________________________________
From: Jenifer Cartwright <jencart13 at yahoo.com>
To: Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
Sent: Mon, October 11, 2010 5:46:43 PM
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fw: Daniel Pipes to talk this Wednesday at Foellinger -
"That was then, this is now" department
Y'all know about this??
--Jenifer
--- On Mon, 10/11/10, David L. Noreen wrote:
>
>Date: Monday, October 11, 2010, 2:02 PM
>
>
>That was then: 12-4-2003
>
>Article: Controversial speaker draws crowd at U. Illinois
>Article date: December 4, 2003
>Author: Kali Bhandari
>
>(Daily Illini) (U-WIRE) CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- About 1,000 people went through 150
>chanting and sign-waving protesters, metal detectors, back pack searches and
>University of Illinois police to see one speaker Wednesday evening.
>
>Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum and a member of the
>presidentially-appointed board of the U.S. Institute of Peace, was brought to
>Foellinger Auditorium by the Illinois-Israel Public Affairs Committee, as well
>as other groups, to speak on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
>
>
>His organization specifically requested the heavy security presence, said Monika
>Pandya, Foellinger Auditorium manager. …
>
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------
>Versus
>"This is now" 10-13-2010
>
>Dr. Daniel Pipes, Middle East scholar, author, and lecturer will be speaking at
>Foellinger Auditorium Wednesday, October 13 at 7 p.m. Dr. Pipes lecture will
>address the question: “Does the ‘War on Terror’ Still Exist?” The public is
>welcome to attend and take part in the Q/A session to follow the lecture.
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------
>
> So he's now a "Middle East scholar, author, and lecturer," according to the
>Daily Illini...
>
> Is AWARE aware of Wednesday's visit?
>
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